Rathvilly 4.22

Rathvilly is a village in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Wicklow, 11 km from Tullow. It is also on the N81 national secondary route. The area has the family seat of Baron Rathdonnell. Rathvilly has won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition on three separate occasions, 1961, 1963, and 1968.HistoryIn the centre of the village there is a statue dedicated to Kevin Barry a local 18-year-old who fought for Irish freedom in the 1920s. He was captured by the British and hanged in Mountjoy Prison on 1 November 1920.Places of interestRathvilly Moat, a medieval structure, is found one mile off the village on the Hacketstown road. The Lisnavagh Estate lies just outside the village of Rathvilly.SportRathvilly GAA club is one of the few clubs in County Carlow who can consistently challenge the dominance of the Carlow town club sides, Éire Óg and O'Hanrahans. The colours of Green and Gold grace the village's Gaelic Athletic Association jersey. They have also been Carlow Senior Football champions 8 times in their history, their most recent championship win came in 2014. Rathvilly's Brendan Murphy has represented his country in the annual AFL series on multiple occasions. In 2015, one of the best ever Rathvilly teams won the Under 16 Carlow A Championship. In 2013, the Rathvilly Junior-A team completed the double, winning both championship and league finals.